It seems that whenever Tupac had a success he would have to get into some kind of trouble. A month after the record's release Tupac got into a beef with a limo driver who claimed that Tupac was doing drugs in the limo. Tupac was arrested but not charged. Less than a month later he attended a rap concert in Lansing, Michigan and tried to separate a rappers head from the rest of his body with a baseball bat. This time he spent ten days in the slammer.
1993 saw Tupac return to the silver screen in Poetic Justice, a movie with Janet Jackson. As a sign of the times and/or Tupac's notoriety, Janet made Tupac take a HIV test before filming the kissing scenes. Also that year Tupac blew a chance to act with his old friend Jada Pinkett and Samuel L. Jackson in Menace II Society, a movie about racial tensions in universities. Tupac got into a slugfest with the director Allen Hughes and was quickly replaced in the film by Omar Epps. He did fifteen days in jail for punching the director. Several months later Tupac was accused of sexual assault by a nineteen year old woman. He was arrested and charged with sodomy, sexual assault and assorted other weapons charges. The arrest and conviction would set off a chain of events that would eventually come crashing down around the rap star.
With all of this happening, Tupac still found time to be creative. He appeared as a drug dealer in the basketball movie Above the Rim. There is little doubt that Tupac was using his experience on the streets to turn in some gritty performances. With his trial looming large Tupac recorded his third album Thug Life Vol.1. During this time he remained close to Mutulu. Through letters and visits to Mutulu in prison the pair had designed what they called the Thug Life code. The rules of the code were...
1.) You're going to get rich
2.) You're going to jail
3.) You're going to die
Sadly, within two years, Tupac would master all three. Thug Life Vol. 1 reached #6 on the album chart and was certified gold in 1996.
Tupac's legal problems cost him yet another movie role. Director John Singleton wanted him for his move Higher Learning but Columbia Pictures, obviously frightened by the controversy now surrounding the rapper, steadfastly refused to let Tupac act in the movie. Meanwhile a war of words had developed between rap music's two major record labels. Death Row Records, led by their CEO Suge Knight, had dominated the rap scene pretty much from day one. Heavy hitters such as Snoop Doggy Dogg were signed by Knight. Tupac himself was still recording for Interscope Records. The dynamics however were about to change and the face of rap would never be the same. There was a new game in town and it went by the name of Bad Boy Records. The man running the show was Sean "Puffy" Combs who also recorded for the label. Bad Boy's biggest (pardon the pun) performer was the Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls. Big in size (he weighed in at over three hundred pounds) Biggie was also arguably the biggest name in rap. Bad Boy based their operations in New York City while Death Row ran their business out of Los Angeles.
Bad Boy Records had attempted to sign Tupac who listened but did not commit. Signing Tupac would have given Bad Boy the knockout punch that they were looking for in their rivalry with Death Row, however, Tupac stuck with Interscope for the time being. The war of words would continue and would come to be known as the East Coast - West Coast Hip Hop Rivalry.
As Tupac's trial neared he was frantically recording his fourth album in an attempt to get it done before his trial. The day before the verdict Tupac visited a recording studio in Time Square to lay down some vocals for fellow rapper Little Shawn. It was a little after midnight when Tupac entered the front lobby of the Quad Recording Studio and was ambushed. He was shot five times, once in the head. While laying there unconscious Tupac was robbed of over $40,000 worth of jewellery. Unbelievably, Tupac came to and got into the elevator to take him to the floor where Little Shawn was. Tupac did not even realize that he had been shot in the head until he was told and saw the blood. Biggie Smalls (the Notorious B.I.G.) was there and Tupac could see the surprise in his eyes. Tupac left and checked himself into a hospital where he underwent surgery. Luckliy for the rapper none of the bullets had caused serious damage. Against the advice of the doctors Tupac checked himself out of the hospital fearing that the shooters would show up to finish the job. He spent the night at the home of longtime friend, actress Jasmine Guy.
The next day Tupac appeared in court to hear the verdict in his sex abuse trial. He was wrapped in bandages and was in a wheelchair. He was found guilty of felony sex abuse and sentenced to between one and a half to four years in prison. Without the money to finance an appeal or to bail himself out Tupac started to serve his sentence immediately. Bail was set at $3M and, when Interscope Records refused to pay it for their star, Tupac was placed in a maximum security prison. On February 27, 1995 his fourth album, Me Against the World, debuted at #1 on both the pop and hip hop charts. With the East Coast - West Coast hip hop rivalry heating up and with Tupac's new album selling like hotcakes Death Row Records chief Suge Knight sprang into action. He cut a deal with Tupac that would see Death Row pay his bail which would effectively get Tupac out of prison. Knight also agreed to finance any appeals that his lawyers might put forth. In return Tupac would agree to record his next three albums on the Death Row label. The newlywed Tupac (he had married longtime friend Keisha Morris while in prison) took the deal gladly and, on his release from prison, immediately started recording for Death Row Records and Suge Knight.
Tupac then fuelled the flames of the hip hop rivalry. In an interview with Vibe Magazine he claimed he was set up in the New York shooting by Biggie, Puffy and his close friend Randy "Stretch" Walker. In another interview Biggie and Puffy both told Vibe that they had absolutely no connection to the ambush. No one was ever charged and the case remains unsolved. Exactly one year to the day of the recording studio shooting Randy "Stretch" Walker was found dead. He had been murdered execution style in New York City. This crime also went unsolved. Payback? Regardless of that it was plain for all to see that the war of words between Bad Boy and Death Row had escalated far beyond the verbal shots being exchanged. Blood was now being spilled and it appeared that no one was safe.
If Tupac had fuelled the fire by implicating Biggie in the NY shooting, he now poured gas onto the flames in a February 1996 interview with Vibe. In this interview he claimed that he had been sleeping with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans. Predictably, Biggie was furious. A week after the interview with Vibe, Tupac released his first discs for Death Row Records. All Eyez On Me was rap's first double disc and debuted at #1 on both pop and hip hop charts. The double disc release would become a bone of contention between Tupac and Suge Knight. The rapper wanted the release to count as two records of the three that he owed to Death Row while Knight maintained that it only counted as one. With All Eyez On Me completed and soaring up the charts, Tupac returned to Hollywood. He received top billing in the movie Gridlock'd, playing the part of a drug addict trying to get into a government detox program while also trying to stay one step ahead of the police and drug dealers. With the success of All Eyez on Me and his movie career once again taking center stage, it appeared that Tupac's life was now back on track. He signed to play a detective in a new movie to be called Gang Related. This time he and his partner, James Belushi, kill an undercover Drug Enforcement Agent by mistake and try to cover up their crime by framing a homeless man. Dennis Quaid also starred in the film. Meanwhile the war between the two record labels continued on unabated. At the Soul Train Music Awards on March 29, 1996 shots were exchanged between employees of Bad Boy and Death Row. Tupac did not attend the awards show but was only a few blocks away filming.
As in keeping with the pattern, Tupac Shakur would follow success with trouble. This time he casually blended the two. He teamed up with Snoop Doggy Dogg to record 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted. They also shot a video together to promote the song. In it, actors playing the part of Biggie and Puffy are confronted by Tupac after the New York shooting. Once again Biggie was furious and denied any involvement in the attack. As if this wasn't enough, a couple of weeks lat
er Tupac and Death Row released Hit 'Em Up. The rap opens once again with Tupac recounting his sexual trysts (real or imagined) with Biggie's wife. The rap goes on to blast Bad Boy Records and threatens revenge for the NY attack on Tupac. It's an unbelievably violent rap and reading the lyrics, even twelve years later, does not soften them in any way. Let's put it this way. The release of Hit 'Em Up did nothing to reduce the tension between Death Row and Bad Boy. In fact it did exactly the opposite. It may have served to escalate the rivalry that would lead to the demise of rap's two biggest stars of the 1990's.
On September 4 Tupac flew back to New York to attend the MTV Music Awards and, yes, he got into another fight with representatives of Bad Boy. Something had to give and it did three nights later in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 1996. On that day the buzz in Las Vegas was all about the Heavyweight Championship that was to take place that night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Iron Mike Tyson had been released from prison after serving time for rape. He was in town to fight Bruce Seldon for the WBA title. Tupac had planned on going to Atlanta that day to attempt to reconcile with relatives that he was having problems with. Suge Knight however reminded Tupac that he had promised to accompany him to the fight. Tyson knocked out Seldon in the first round prompting a visit backstage from Tupac. Tupac identified with the boxer saying that they had both come out of prison and now "we be running shit." After the fight Knight and Tupac went back to Suge's mansion to change clothes before heading out to Club 662 to party and where Tupac planned to perform. Tupac left off his bulletproof vest that he usually wore claiming that it would be too hot in the club. While stopped at a red light in front of the Maxim Hotel, two females in a jeep attracted the attention of both men. A late model white Cadillac with four men inside pulled up on the passenger side. At the last second Tupac saw what was coming and tried to climb into the back seat for cover. Thirteen shots were fired into the car. A bullet ricocheted off Tupac's right hip and entered his lung. He was also hit in the chest and hand. Suge Knight received only minor injuries when hit with debris. Inexplicably, Knight drove past the Desert Springs Hospital and into traffic. Police caught up with them and immediately called for an ambulance. Tupac was taken to the University Medical and Trauma Center and was operated on immediately to have the lung removed. Doctors fought hard to stop the internal bleeding and put Tupac into a medically induced coma giving him a 50% chance of survival. On September 13 doctors made two attempts to revive the rap star. When these failed Afeni told the doctors to let him go. The turbulent life of the multi talented but haunted Tupac Amatu Shakur was now over.
There are many theories surrounding the death of Tupac Shakur. Many think that he got caught up in the gang warfare between rival LA gangs, the Bloods and the Crips. Still more believe that Suge Knight himself had some part to play in the shooting. The thinking there goes that Tupac was thinking of leaving Death Row Records over the dispute regarding All Eyez On Me and whether or not the disc counted as one or two records. Still others felt that the rapper was just another victim of the East Coast - West Coast rivalry. Whatever the truth is, the fact was that the rap world had lost one of its brightest stars.
A month and a half after the murder, Death Row released Makaveli which immediately hit #1 on both the pop and hip hop charts. In 1997 both Gridlock'd and Gang Related, the two movies that Tupac had made the previous year, were released. Also in 1997 Afeni won the battle with Death Row Records over the right to Tupac's unreleased material. In December 1997 R U Still Down? (Remember Me?) was released on Amaru Records, a new label set up by Afeni to distribute Tupac's music. Two years later, Still I Rise reached #6 on the album charts and in March 2001, almost five years after his death, Until the End of Time reached #1. Afeni continues to use the industry's top engineers to produce and release Tupac's music.
Suge Knight and Death Row Records eventually went bankrupt in 2006. The Notorious B.I.G. himself was killed in a drive by shooting in LA less than seven months after Tupac was gunned down in Vegas. Bad Boy is still run by Sean "Puffy" Combs but has gone through some tough times since Biggie's death. Afeni now runs the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation which helps young artists. She also runs the Makaveli clothing line with all profits going to the foundation.
No one was ever charged in either the New York attack or in his death in Las Vegas. Afeni scattered some of his ashes on a hill in LA and the rest in her garden which is said to have flourished. Tupac Amaru Shakur was only twenty-five years old at the time of his death.
Update: March 1, 2012...Plans for a musical based on the life of Tupac, to be called Holler If Ya Hear Me (named for a song on Tupac's second album)has been approved by Afeni. It is to be directed by three time Tony winner Kenny Leon.
Bobby Driscoll (1937-1968)
What About the Children?
Bobby Driscoll is a classic example of how Hollywood sometimes eats her young. Bobby was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 3, 1937. He moved with his parents to California when he was six years old and almost immediately was cast in a small part as a boy on a train in Lost Angel. Bobby landed lots of small roles as a young child and then got a break when he was cast in Song of the South which was one of the first movies to combine cartoons with live action. Bigger roles in better movies soon followed.
Bobby soon landed starring roles in So Dear to my Heart and The Window. At the 1949 Academy Awards he received a special Oscar as Outstanding Juvenile Actor. The future seemed bright for Bobby who was still only twelve years old. The following year Bobby was cast in the role of Jack Hawkins in Disney's remake of Treasure Island. At this time Bobby became the first actor to sign a long term deal with Disney's animation department. Unfortunately, as is so often the case in Hollywood, the good times would not last.
In 1953 Bobby was cast as the voice of Peter Pan. Until Bobby the voice of Peter Pan had always been supplied by a female. Later that year Disney terminated Bobby's contract. The child actor was now seventeen and had developed a severe case of acne which is believed to be the chief cause for him not landing leading roles in Disney's Johnny Tremain and The Light of the Forest. These were roles that were very much suited to the young actor's talent. Sadly, it was all downhill from there. As fast as Hollywood had made him a star the rug was pulled out from under him just a quick. With his star rapidly fading Bobby turned to drugs. He was arrested in 1956 for possession of narcotics.
Bobby did get another shot at Hollywood in the 1958 film The Party Crashers. The movie turned out to be a critical failure and a box office flop which pretty much sealed Bobby's fate. In 1959 he was arrested for possession of heroin and a year later was charged with robbery and possession of a deadly weapon. In an interview several years later Bobby spoke of his time in Hollywood. " I have found that memories are not very useful. I was carved on a silver platter and dumped in a garbage can." On his drug use he stated, "I had everything. I was earning $50,000 a year and was working steadily with good parts. I'm not sure why I started using narcotics. I was seventeen when I started experimenting with the stuff and, in no time at all, I was using whatever was available - mostly heroin because I had the money for it."
On March 30, 1968 Bobby was found dead on the floor of an abandoned tenement in Manhattan. He had developed hepatitis from his drug use. Ironically the opening sequence of The Window has Bobby laying alone on the floor of an abandoned building. Bobby was buried on New York's Hart Island (also known as Potter's Field) in a pauper's grave. It wasn't until almost nineteen months later that his remains were identified and sent back to California. Bobby now rests at the Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside, California.
Freddie Prinze (1954-1977)
Loooooking Goooood
Frederick Karl Preutzel was born to a Hungarian father and a Puerto Rican mother in New York City. In later years he would joke that he was a Hunga-Rican. At an early age his mother enrolled him in ballet classes to fight a weight problem. Later Frederick would join the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Performing Arts where
he studied drama and ballet. However, it was becoming obvious to many that comedy was his first love. He would entertain crowds in the school's restroom with his comedy.
Freddie left the school in his senior year and began to hone his craft in the comedy clubs of New York City. He signed up for a non paying gig at The Improv. It was also at this time that he changed his name. He always wanted to be known as the King of Comedy but that title already belonged to Bob Hope and another comedian, Alan King, already had the name. He settled on being a prince and quickly changed that to Prinze. In 1973 the hard work that Freddie had been putting in paid off with a guest shot on one of the last episodes of the Jack Paar Show. When Paar left the show it became the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Freddie soon got a guest appearance on that show and was the first comedian to be asked to sit and chat with Johnny after his routine. Back in those days if you had Johnny in your corner you were in pretty good shape. NBC soon signed Freddie to play opposite Jack Albertson in the new sitcom Chico and the Man. The pairing would prove to be a big hit.
By 1975 Freddie's plate was pretty full. He was putting in long hours on the tv show. He also found the time to hit the road with his standup act and to record an album in Chicago titled Loooooking Goooood which was the catch phrase on the sitcom. Freddie even managed to find the time to marry his girlfriend Katherine Cochran in Las Vegas in August 1975. A baby boy, Freddie Jr. was born in 1976. To cope with the pressure and the demands on his time Freddie turned to drugs. In 1976 he was arrested for driving under the influence of Quaaludes. Not long after that Katherine filed for divorce arguing that Freddie's drug dependency was putting her and Freddie Jr. at risk. By now Freddie had graduated to cocaine and had expressed suicidal thoughts to friend and fellow comic David Brenner as well as to singer Tony Orlando.
Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings: Legends Never Die Updated Page 7